TNPL 2023: Skipper Indrajith takes Dindigul Dragons home vs Salem Spartans
Dindigul will now play Lyca Kovai Kings in Qualifier 1 on July 7 in Salem.
Published : Jul 03, 2023 23:01 IST , TIRUNELVELI - 2 MINS READ
Dindigul Dragons batter Baba Indrajith in action against Salem Spartans in the Tamil Nadu Premier League match held in Tirunelveli.
Baba Indrajith hit an unbeaten 83 (50b, 9x4, 3x6) and engaged in a 93-run second-wicket partnership with R. Vimal Khumar (42, 36b, 3x4, 1x6) as Dindigul Dragons beat Salem Spartans by seven wickets in the seventh season of the Tamil Nadu Premier League (TNPL) at the India Cement Company ground here on Monday.
Dindigul will now play Lyca Kovai Kings in Qualifier 1 on July 7 in Salem.
Varun impressive again
Earlier, Dindigul’s Varun Chakaravarthy, who’s been in fine form this season, picked up two for 15 in four overs with 10 dot balls. He’s seemingly bowling a lot of leg-spinners now which makes his googly more potent. He’s bowled outside or on the cusp of the right-hander’s off-stump except for five balls this season. That line, with his unpickable bowling action, is bound to have the batters largely doubtful about the direction of turn, rendering them indecisive.
He said he had to pull his length back, factoring in the wind. He bowled all his overs from the Pavilion End, where the wind might aid the ball to drift away from the right-hander. The googly in the last ball of the 10th over slightly drifted into the left-hander Mokit Hariharan and turned away close past the outside edge.
He had Kaushik Gandhi bowled off a googly, and S. Aravind caught at deep square-leg. Varun also said that Salem had fallen short by 15 runs of what he thought was the par score on the relatively firmer, grassier strip.
Subodh’s death bowling
Except for the six off the slower first ball that Muhammed Adnan Khan deposited over the long-off boundary, Dindigul’s Subodh Bhati bowled an excellent last over once again. He’d conceded two runs and picked up two wickets in the last over of the Nellai innings in his last match. He bowls a mixture of yorkers, and hard-length and slower balls at the death. Of these, his top preference is the yorker. Until Monday, he’d bowled the most yorkers (28) this season. With yorkers and attempted-yorkers, he conceded only two runs off the last five balls.
But he also bowled five wides - three of those in the 18th over. Two of the three were back-to-back when he bowled the leg-spinning back-of-the-hand slower ball.
Sunny’s second successive fifty
Salem’s Sunny Sandhu is seemingly high on confidence. He scored his second successive fifty (57, 39b, 2x4, 4x6) at No. 4, having been promoted to that position in his last match.
Salem Spartans batter Sunny Sandhu in action against Dindigul Dragons. | Photo Credit: LAKSHMI NARAYANAN E / THE HINDU
It is to be noted that he also bowls with the new ball.